MIAMISBURG, Ohio (WDTN) – From 1948-2003 much of the scientific research at Mound Laboratory was so top-secret, employees couldn’t talk about their work with their family members.
“All we knew was he was a research chemist at Mound. That’s all he could say,” said Leslie Birden Bailey, the daughter of a researcher at the facility.
Birden and her sisters Lisa and Gail attended Monday’s grand-opening event at the Mound Cold War Discovery Center. They were pleased to find their father’s face displayed in an exhibit about the space race.
“It’s a wonderful thing to have the work that they did recognized and the fact that they were participants in it,” said Lisa Birden Garland.
The women’s father, John Birden, began as a researcher at Mound during the Manhattan Project. He later helped invent the Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG), a power source in satellites, space probes, and unmanned remote facilities, which gave the U.S. an advantage during the Space Race.